From the NTID President's Office

As this most unusual semester ends, our normal spring routine has changed significantly. Events and celebrations have been postponed, canceled or moved online. However, while we have all had to change the way we teach, learn, and connect with our students, alumni, and colleagues, I could not be more proud of each of you and the way you have managed to find ways to make the best of our situation.

Much of what will be happening in the future is still unknown, but RIT continues to plan for a variety of contingencies. Continue to watch for emails in the coming weeks.

President Munson and Provost Granberg invite the entire RIT community Friday, May 8 to celebrate the Class of 2020 with a virtual conferral of degrees. This celebration is not intended to replace traditional commencement. RIT remains committed to an on-campus ceremony as soon as we can safely host one. The May 8 event will allow us to recognize graduating students and celebrate their achievements. All graduating students and their families and friends, as well as faculty and staff, are invited to view the online celebration on May 8.

The event will begin streaming at 5 p.m. EDT on May 8 with congratulatory messages from faculty and staff*. President Munson and Provost Granberg will deliver remarks along with Student Government President Anika Aftab. Remarks will begin at 5:30 p.m. EDT. To find a list of graduates, visit the Class of 2020 website.

*Faculty and staff can show support for our graduating students and share your pride in them. Click here by April 30 to leave personal congratulatory messages to our graduating students. The messages will be played prior to the celebration and placed on a website for future viewing.

RIT has announced furloughs and other measures to ensure the financial health of the university. As I indicated in my April 22 email, NTID faculty and staff are not impacted by these furloughs, but we are thinking of all of our RIT colleagues who have been impacted. If you missed the RIT announcement, you can view it by going to the university's COVID-19 website.

With summer coming up quickly, plans for how we deliver education and enrichment programs are in place. Thank you to all who have worked – and continue to work – so hard to put these courses and programs in place.

• Summer session online – find courses and information at rit.edu/summer.
• EYF and summer outreach programs – Explore Your Future and Health Care Careers will be held online, and other outreach programs will not be happening this year.

It has been nothing short of inspiring to see the manner in which our faculty have adapted their classroom pedagogy for our students. Equally inspirational has been the work of our interpreters and captionists in the Department of Access Services as they work to ensure that remote learning is accessible to our students. 

I am pleased to announce the following faculty who have received awards for their outstanding efforts in teaching:

• Provost’s Innovative Teaching with Technology Award
  • Linda Gottermeier, Au.D., Audiology Faculty, Communication Studies and Services Department, National Technical Institute for the Deaf
• 2019/2020 Teaching/Tutoring Award Winners:
  • Teaching Award for Lecturers, Lisa Johnston
  • Tutoring Award for Lecturers, Jennifer Swartzenberg
• 2019/2020 Scholarship Award Winner:
  • Tenured Faculty Scholarship Award winner is Dr. Jessica Cuculick
• Dodge Faculty Research Award
  • Austin Gehret
• Tenure:
  • Jason Listman, tenure and promotion to associate professor
  • Joseph Hill, tenure and promotion to associate professor

This is an internal search for qualified tenured NTID faculty. Applications will only be accepted through RIT’s CareerZone (BrassRing) website: rit.edu/careers. Use Firefox or Chrome to access the position since the website may not be fully compatible with Safari or Internet Explorer. In order to be considered for this position, you must apply online.
Log onto the system using your RIT credentials and search for the job posting using the "5160BR” position number.  For full consideration, candidates must upload documents that address all of the required qualifications as outlined in the position description.

Review of applications will begin on April 30, 2020.

Questions may be directed to Lin Hoke.

Hello, RIT/NTID faculty and staff—Just a quick note from your friendly neighborhood Office of External Affairs! We know many of you are working hard on providing the best experience possible for our students as we all navigate this new world. We thought some updates and information from our corner would be useful for you too:

• Our graduating seniors won’t have a ceremony this May, but we can still send them off in style! Development and Alumni Relations staff on both sides of campus are working on different ways you can do that.
  • #TigerDay: For RIT/NTID graduating seniors, we are hosting #TigerDay on social media on Friday, May 1. Post a public photo of yourself on your favorite social media platform in your favorite piece of RIT/NTID gear with the #TigerDay hashtag and a message for our soon-to-be alumni to show your support!
  • Tiger Wisdom: RIT’s Development and Alumni Relations team asks for your Tiger Wisdom—words of advice or encouragement, for example—to be shared with our graduates. They accept either text or video submissions, so if you’d prefer to sign your wisdom, please do!
• Emergency Fund:  A number of our students are facing some difficult situations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, so RIT has set up a COVID-19 Emergency Fund where every dollar will go directly to students with emergency needs due to the pandemic.
• View@RIT/NTID: We’ve been busy putting together a series of Zoom webinars for the whole community! Here’s what’s coming up:
  • Tuesday, May 12, 12-1 p.m. Tools for working from home RIT/NTID alum and regional representative Sharaine Roberts has a toolbox of useful tips you can use to work from home—kids, dogs, and all! Registration required.
• #TigerMeetUp: If you’ve been meeting with other RIT/NTID grads, alumni, or coworkers online to hang out—or because you miss being able to drop in to someone’s office— take a photo and share on social media with the hashtag #TigerMeetUp. Let’s show our community how we say connected with each other!
• Deaf Queer Art goes virtual: Before campus closed, the Dyer Arts Center was hosting a one-of-a-kind exhibition of artwork done by Deaf LGBTQ+ artists. Proving you can’t keep a good idea down, the exhibition is now virtual! Head to the Dyer’s new Omeka site and check out all 100+ pieces from more than 40 artists, performers, and poets.
• Teaching dance from a distance: RIT’s University News profiled RIT/NTID’s Thomas Warfield and an innovative assignment he gave his students to stretch their creativity at home. Read more here.

Thanks, everyone, for your time. Be well, take care of yourself, and take care of your loved ones.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at LXLNCA@rit.edu.

Loriann Macko
Director, NTID Alumni & Constituent Relations

RIT/NTID has always been the model of accessibility for the rest of RIT and other colleges and universities. Maintaining these standards is particularly critical during times such as these, when information must be accessible to all of our students. RIT/NTID’s Communications, Marketing and Multimedia Services Department is working in partnership the Department of Access Services to provide interpreting, voiceover recordings, editing, captioning, etc. for videos that will be posted on RIT/NTID websites and social media channels. If you are thinking of creating a video for your area, contact Susan Murad to discuss your project and determine the best way to ensure it will be accessible and completed in a timely manner.

Kudos to everyone at NTID who helped with the Mission 2020 United Way campaign – Key Captains, Steering Committee members, and most importantly, donors. NTID connections played a special role this year with a presentation by RSD at President Munson’s kickoff, an RIT campaign video highlighting RSD, IGNITE as one of the featured organizations at the United Way SAU/Fireside event, and our own Heather Eaggleston as campaign chair.

Though the final tally is still not in, we know that RIT reached 90% of its goal of 1,000 donors – a HUGE effort in a very challenging climate. Greater Rochester United Way gave this achievement a shout out: “Students, staff and faculty remained committed to this year’s annual United Way Campaign. While RIT was shutting down in the midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the university remained focused on uniting for good. This is an incredible accomplishment that will support the health, education, and economic mobility of local individuals and families. Thank you to RIT for its unwavering commitment to our community!”

My thanks to all of you, my NTID colleagues, who contributed to this important campaign that supports so many in our community and the greater Rochester area.

It is important that all NTID faculty, staff members and student organizations review and understand RIT’s guidelines concerning political and legislative activity. Federal regulations pertaining to RIT’s status as a tax-exempt organization restrict persons acting on its behalf from certain activities. From time to time, there are occasions where members of the RIT community may wish to express their views on political or legislative matters. Please refer to this policy concerning requests that you may receive from candidates for office or persons acting on behalf of candidates. In addition, all requests from outside organizations to communicate as a representative of RIT/NTID with elected officials on legislative issues must first be discussed with Bernie Hurwitz. This is especially true when RIT/NTID funds are being used to support this activity.

• To Chris Kurz, for being one of four international groups awarded a grant for developing high-quality, accessible children’s books in six languages.
• To Eric Kunsman, who is a finalist for the COCA Project. The COCA Project from the Center of Contemporary Artists, is based in Barcelona, Rome, Munich, & Zurich and represents all art forms, not just photography.
• To our senior student-athletes, many of whom were unable to compete in their final year due to COVID-19. We especially congratulate Emily Lederman who received the Jan Strine Award for her accomplishments and leadership both in and out of the pool.
• To Kendell Charles, for his leadership, co-hosting “Brick City News” and participation in the Performing Arts program. This letter from Andy Head, a faculty member in RIT’s College of Liberal Arts Performing Arts program said it best: “I have worked with Kendell closely over the past few years – both in the classroom and through extra-curricular activities. He has demonstrated his leadership as well as his ability to build bridges between deaf and hearing students in two recent plays I directed at RIT & NTID. He starred as the lead role of the Emcee in 2018’s production of “Cabaret” and also as the lead of Anthony in the 2019 production of “I and You.” Both of these productions were collaborations between NTID Performing Arts and the College of Liberal Arts, and they each brought deaf and hearing students together onstage. Kendell was instrumental in both plays, both in terms of the size of his character as well as the leadership and experience he brought to the casts. Many of the hearing students were new to ASL and Kendell was happy to teach them important signs. He worked very hard to communicate with others and made all students feel comfortable working together. I was incredibly impressed and delighted by his leadership as a unifying presence in these situations. In the classroom, Kendell serves as a model for all students. He works very hard and he’s ready to encourage and assist other students-whether they be deaf, hard of hearing or hearing – whenever necessary. He’s fantastic at presenting information in class and helps share his expertise with others. This past year Kendell has also been featured as one of the co-hosts for NTID”s Brick City News. His role in this program is incredibly significant in improving the quality of student life on campus, sharing information, and keeping students connected. I eagerly look forward to each new edition of the program because I know that he will be on the screen. I think he’s been a perfect fit as one of the co-hosts because of his warm energy and fun demeanor. Kendell is a graduating senior this semester and I will be sad to see him go.” 

• Sid McQuay passed away peacefully at his home March 25. To send a card to Sid’s family, here is the address: 21 Wenham Lane Pittsford, NY 14534.
• Dale Metz, an original member of the Communication Research Department from 1977 to 1993, passed away March 25, 2020 https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/new-port-richey-fl/dale-metz-9098869.